This week’s garden is running a full theatrical production! Curtain up.
One — Opening Act
I popped this cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus) in the middle of a bed of dahlias to give it some color while the dahlias take their time blooming, and it’s doing its job with abandon. I’m sharing the photo purely because it makes me happy to see them. I’m going to need to sow these everywhere next year and have the entire rainbow popping up between the vegetables.
Two — Understudies Get the Spotlight
The lobelias I planted in the front railing pots started looking miserable the deeper into summer we got, so I decided it was time to swap them out for something that actually enjoys a sunny, dry spot. I encountered these three fan flowers (Scaevola aemula) in exactly the same colors as the lobelia and immediately took them home. I didn’t know they existed until yesterday, and they’re definitely not a common plant in these parts — but now I’m hoping to overwinter them through cuttings, because they’re perfect for this spot.
Three — Plot Twist
Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) is a native and perfectly innocuous plant in Finland — it only grows wild in certain areas and gets kept in gardens as an ornamental. Which makes it sort of funny to hear that it’s a highly invasive species in the States. Basically the inverse of our lupine problem here. Our clump is relatively small and a bit battered at the moment, since we’re doing serious tree felling and cleanup work in their area, but they’ve reliably returned every summer, and I hope they’ll come back happier next year with the improvements we’re making.
Four — Second Act
This lovely marguerite (Argyranthemum frutescens) just pushed out a second flush of blooms, and there are a LOT of them. It’s like one of those fireworks shows where you think it’s ended, only to discover you were only halfway through. Seeing all those shades on one plant never gets old.
Five — Craft Services
I sowed both purple and white borage (Borago officinalis) two years ago, and volunteers have been popping up reliably in that area ever since, which makes me very happy. Only the purples have appeared so far, but I suspect the recessive genetics for white flowers are lurking in there somewhere. We’ll see, with some time and luck. I’m going to scatter the remainder of those seed packets at the far end of the garden too, since they don’t seem to be spreading that far on their own. The patch has become a favorite stop for fat bumblebees, and I love watching them work.
Six — Set Construction
And now, for something completely different: we have a place to lounge outside now! While I’ve been rehabilitating the vegetable beds and flower field, my husband and his dad have been renovating the terrace attached to our sauna building. It hadn’t seen upkeep in a few decades, and it showed. After I took the photo of the finished deck today, he thought to ask whether I had a “before” photo — and I had to dig three years back into my archives to find one. That’s how thoroughly we’d neglected this area.
They removed the old jacuzzi, tore out all the rotted wood, and extended the whole thing, so now there’s room for a porch swing, a dining set, and the grill. And yes, that is a second giant grapevine eating the side of the building. We have very enthusiastic grapes here. I have promised to actually keep this one in check now that it’s been hacked to the ground for the year. Wish me luck.
Six on Saturday is hosted by Jim at Garden Ruminations — the rest of the cast is over there.